Pontcysyllte Aqueduct & Canal - Historical Background

 The Llangollen Canal, formerly the Ellesmere Canal, originated in a scheme to link the rivers Mersey and Severn, which would also access the iron and coal fields around Shrewsbury, Ellesmere and Ruabon. This plan was fuelled by the need for improved forms of transport, both for an agricultural economy increasingly dependant on long distance trade, and the Industrial revolution that swept across Britain in the second half of the eighteenth century. Shropshire, heavily reliant on the trade of its agricultural output, was dependent on the River Severn providing a trade route to the port at Bristol, but many in the county also wished to take advantage of the new industrial trade afforded by the iron and coal fields situated along the Welsh Border.

Man cychwyn Camlas Llangollen, Camlas Ellesmere gynt, oedd cynllun i gysylltu afonydd Mersi a Hafren. Byddai’r cynllun hefyd yn fodd i gyrraedd y meysydd haearn a glo ger Amwythig, Ellesmere a Rhiwabon. Yr ysgogiad iddo oedd yr angen i wella’r cyfleusterau cludo a oedd ar gael bryd hynny i economi amaethyddol a ddibynnai fwyfwy ar fasnachu dros bellteroedd maith, ac i wasanaethu’r chwyldro diwydiannol a oedd yn lledu fel tân gwyllt ar draws Prydain yn ystod ail hanner y ddeunawfed ganrif. Er bod Swydd Amwythig yn dibynnu’n drwm ar fasnachu ei chynnyrch amaethyddol, ac yn dibynnu hefyd ar gludo nwyddau ar hyd Afon Hafren i gyrraedd porthladd Bryste, yr oedd llu o bobl yn y sir yn awyddus i fanteisio ar y fasnach newydd a ddeilliai o ecsploetio’r meysydd haearn a glo ar hyd y ffin â Chymru.

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Historical Background of the Aqueduct and Canal English
Cefndir Hanesyddol y Draphont Ddŵr a’r Gamlas Welsh